Can Sun International Limited’s (JSE:SUI) ROE Continue To Surpass The Industry Average?

While some investors are already well versed in financial metrics (hat tip), this article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE) and why it is important. To keep the lesson grounded in practicality, we’ll use ROE to better understand Sun International Limited (JSE:SUI).

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company’s management is utilizing the company’s capital. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company’s shareholders.

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The formula for return on equity is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders’ Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Sun International is:

45% = R1.5b ÷ R3.3b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).

The ‘return’ is the profit over the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every ZAR1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn ZAR0.45 in profit.

View our latest analysis for Sun International

One simple way to determine if a company has a good return on equity is to compare it to the average for its industry. The limitation of this approach is that some companies are quite different from others, even within the same industry classification. Pleasingly, Sun International has a superior ROE than the average (23%) in the Hospitality industry.

That’s what we like to see. However, bear in mind that a high ROE doesn’t necessarily indicate efficient profit generation. A higher proportion of debt in a company’s capital structure may also result in a high ROE, where the high debt levels could be a huge risk . To know the 2 risks we have identified for Sun International visit our risks dashboard for free.

Virtually all companies need money to invest in the business, to grow profits. That cash can come from issuing shares, retained earnings, or debt. In the first two cases, the ROE will capture this use of capital to grow. In the latter case, the debt required for growth will boost returns, but will not impact the shareholders’ equity. That will make the ROE look better than if no debt was used.

Sun International does use a high amount of debt to increase returns. It has a debt to equity ratio of 1.61. There’s no doubt the ROE is impressive, but it’s worth keeping in mind that the metric could have been lower if the company were to reduce its debt. Debt increases risk and reduces options for the company in the future, so you generally want to see some good returns from using it.